Imagine a country where the government has a mass surveillance tracking program that uses saltellite technology and microchips to track citizens and their animals. All citizens - with even just one horse, cow, pig, chicken, sheep, pigeon, or virtually any animal - are tracked. No one is exmpt - all must comply. All animal owners must register their homes or premises, including owner's name, address, and telephone numberAll animal owners and animals will be keyed to Global Positioning System coordinates for satellite monitoring, in a giant federal database under a 7-digit "premises ID number."

All animals:Will be assigned a 15-digit ID number, also to be kept in a giant federal database. Will be ID'd through a microchip containing a Radio Frequency Identification Device, designed to be read from a distance, or a retinal scan.

Now open your eyes and realize you live in the United States of America. Sound like science fiction? Yeah - you wish.

Animal tracking via satellite isn't new. NASA and NOAH already do it to track wildlife and even have a website to educate kids on how it's done. They track all kinds of animals - purpoises, geese and deer via satellite.

But now the government has expanded The Plan - and The Plan just may include you, Mr. Anderson.

The "Plan" is the National Identification System, developed jointly by the USDA, The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security. That Plan - The National Animal Identification System - is already being rolled out throughout the country as a "pilot" and will become mandatory by 2008 - unless you do something about it right now.

What's NAIS Got To Do With Dogs?

Read between the lines, Mr. Anderson. The Plan - The National Animal Identification System DOES NOT EXCLUDE companion animals, such as dogs, cats, rabbits, etc. While not included in the initial rollout of "the plan", the USDA will not rule out inclusion of companion species. That much was confirmed in a phone call last month between this blogger and a spokesperson at the Senate Agricultural Subcommittee's Press Office. The Yes - that would be the very same Senate Agricultural Subcommittee's Press Office that handles SB 1139 - The PAWS Bill.

At the center of The Plan are the very same players responsible for the PAWS Bill - The USDA - Senator Rick Santorum and Digital Angel - the roster of players that have bailed out of the highest levels of goverment- Tommy Thompson and Tom Ridge - into lucrative roles with those same microchip companies - Digital Angel and others. But wait - isn't that how things get done down in DC????

Culture of Corruption

In the culture of corruption and pay for play down in Washington - who needs hearings when you can dole out juicy goverment contracts that violate the rights of citizens and the very principles upon which this country was founded, and then - jump the fence to be on the receiving end of those contracts?

Read on my friends - below is an article by Dr. Mary Zanoni, J.D., that articulates the finer points of NAIS. And here you thought that standardizing those microchip frequencies was for the benefit of Fluffy in case he ended up at the shelter...................

Farm for LifeMary Zanoni, Ph.D.P.O. Box 501Canton, New York 13617mlz@slic.com

Small farmers and homesteaders have chosen their way of life because they love their freedom-the freedom from urban noise and congestion, the independence from government and corporate interference, the self-reliance of providing one's own shelter, water, food. Now the USDA's NAIS-National Animal Identification System-threatens the traditional freedoms of the rural way of life.The Genesis of the NAIS

The NAIS is the brainchild of the National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA). Who is the NIAA? Primarily two groups-(1) the biggest corporate players in U.S. meat production (for example, the National Pork Producers, Monsanto, Cargill Meat); and (2) the makers and marketers of high-tech animal ID equipment (for example, Digital Angel, Inc., EZ-ID/AVID ID Systems, Micro Beef Technologies, Ltd.). Beginning in 2002, the NIAA used 9/11 and subsequently the BSE scares to lobby the USDA for a nationwide, all-livestock registration and tracking system. The result is the USDA's proposed NAIS, set forth in a Draft Strategic Plan (Plan) and Draft Program Standards (Standards) released on April 25, 2005. The Plan and Standards can be downloaded from http://www.usda.gov/nais.Main requirements of the NAIS

The NAIS would require two types of mandatory registration. First, premises registration would require every person who owns even one horse, cow, pig, chicken, sheep, pigeon, or virtually any livestock animal, to register their home, including owner's name, address, and telephone number, and keyed to Global Positioning System coordinates (for satellite-assisted location of homes and farms), in a federal database under a 7-digit "premises ID number." (Standards, pp. 3-4, 10-12; Plan, p. 5.) Second, individual animal identification will require owners to obtain a 15-digit ID number, also to be kept in the federal database, for any animal that ever leaves the premises of its birth. Thus, even if you are raising animals only for your own food, you will have to obtain an individual ID to send animals to a slaughterhouse, to sell or buy animals, to obtain stud service. (Large-scale producers will be allowed to identify, e.g., large groups of pigs or broilers raised and processed together by a single group ID number. However, owners raising single animals or a small number, under most circumstances will have to identify each animal individually for purposes of slaughter, sale, or breeding.) If you own a non-food animal such as a horse, you would need individual ID if you ever left your property for shows or trail rides. The form of ID will most likely be a tag or microchip containing a Radio Frequency Identification Device, designed to be read from a distance. (Plan, p. 10; Standards, pp. 6, 12, 20, 27-28.) In addition to this "electronic identification," the USDA will allow "industry" to decide whether to require the use of "retinal scan" and "DNA" identification for all animals. (Plan, p.13.)

Within this system, for animals subject to individual animal identification, the animal owner would be required to report: the birthdate of an animal, the application of every animal's ID tag, every time an animal leaves or enters the property, every time an animal loses a tag, every time a tag is replaced, the slaughter or death of an animal, or if any animal is missing. Such events must be reported within 24 hours. (Standards, pp. 12-13, 17-21.) The USDA plans "enforcement" to ensure compliance with the NAIS. (Standards, p. 7; Plan, p. 17.) The USDA has not yet specified the nature of this "enforcement," but presumably it would include fines and/or seizure of animals.